Character Concepts and Art styles (27/02/2015)

ASSESSMENT 1

CHARACTER CONCEPTS AND ART STYLES

PERFORMANCE STUDY

Today we received our next brief for our second Assessment "Performance Study", and a thorough look through our brief. We get time outside of class to prepare for our week of Dialogue animation.

I have had one idea for it so far, but I think I still need to explore my character more in order to decide on a dialogue for him. We need to incorporate a glass and coaster on a table in our animation and the character has to interact with it. My character is (of what I have so far) quite up himself, a little paranoid, blank, strict, pessimist, tidy, deceiving, perfectionist and a liar. So perhaps his dialogue could be: "This glass is half empty" while analysing it. 

MOOD BOARD (ART STYLES)

I looked at a few more styles that I want to go for, "The Incredibles" have a simple sharp and round features in their artwork. I like the faces and body shapes they used, they all differ and are very different from one another. I started to pick out the certain things I like about the styles, I liked the eyes in "Windwaker" and the softness of the lines in the poster for "The man on the flying Trapeze". I also decided I want to go for a vintage look for the circus, as circuses were quite big during that time. I also looked up what posters looked like during the era, and I think I want to incorporate the bright colours they used for the circus and the costumes.

CHARACTER SKETCHES

I explored making the boy built or slim, and also changing the shapes of his face. My first few sketches show his chin quite long, and his body quite built. I showed my designs to a classmate and he suggested making him slim, but I liked that he is portrayed as heroic through his shape language whereas his personality is villainous. I like the contrast between the two, and how looks can be deceiving. I also think it would be challenging to make his more "evil" personality shine through his actions rather than his appearance. I still think the face should have a few sharp shapes to make him look more questionable. I had some difficulty figuring out what hairstyle he should have, I thought of wavy, messy hair but I think it looks too out of place. I think short hair would suit him better, as his personality is more strict. 

I also explored shapes for the girl character, I want the two characters to contrast each other quite a bit. I also decided in what Era I want the Circus act to play in, I looked at a few photos/images of the Vintage Trapeze acrobats and saw that most women were quite curvy. I think if I give her an hourglass figure and very soft shapes it would contrast with the boy's built/masculine body shape. As well as having very curvy and round shapes, I think her eyes should be quite angular and sharp, and perhaps her eyebrows as well. I want her eyes to resemble a lion/cat's eye, to show that perhaps that she is dangerous/sly/sneaky/clever. I like the round and wavy hair for the girl as it would match with her round face shape but also resemble the Era.

I also thought more about what their costumes would look like, I don't think I want it to be too obvious that their costumes resemble a lion and a zebra so I tried simplifying the designs, e.g. giving only one or two stripes on the chest of the boy's costume to imply a zebra and only a round white circle for the girl's costume for the lion.

I did a few sketches for the "Beast" as well, I explored giving it curtain-like drapes as his mane and also ropes. I thought the ropes could be quite interesting as it would imply that the lion is strangled hence the boy killing the girl. I also thought back to making the face of the beast a lion skull rather than an actual lion head, the reason for this is that the skull would imply death and that the "threat is dead". I might do some more sketches for this tomorrow and try to figure out how to simplify the skull with the style I am going for.

I also need to think of what the backgrounds will look like, the forest and the circus scene. I imagine the forest scene to be grey and only the boy character and the beast are in colour, giving a surreal atmosphere, whereas the circus scene is full of colour.

Working on Character Concepts and Mood Boards (26/02/2015)

ASSESSMENT 1

CHARACTER CONCEPTS, AND MOOD BOARD

Today we continued to work on our story ideas and character concepts. I was still not happy with my story ideas and not passionate about them, so I used the morning hours so come up with a story I like.
I listened to music and was able to tie in pieces of my previous ideas but also create a new idea I like.
Franz was able to help me with my idea a lot. At the beginning I only knew the boy would run away from the beast and eventually get to a mirror and see the beast. Franz helped me come up with a back story, and that the beast could represent the costume he/she wore. After lunch, our class was in the computer room and I looked up some styles that I can imagine my story in. I watched a lot of "Gobelins" animations and I liked the ones that had quite an "artsy" style.

I looked up the sort movies I liked that had a similar style to the one I imagine; "Duo", "Who's afraid of Mr. Greedy?", "Monstera Delicosa", "Fenrir", "Feast", "Paperman", "Between two Bears", "Over the Garden Wall" and "The longest road".
I also looked up what kind of colours I imagine in my story. I liked the lighting in "Birdman" and "Batman Forever". They both have a part in a theatre/circus and have quite dramatic lighting, cold and warm colours.

7.) IDEA
A boy is running away from a monster, the monster has a lion head and has strange objects on its body. As the chase continues the boy gets closer to a forest, he runs into it while the "Beast" stops in front of the forest. As the boy continues to get deeper into the forest, he gets to a clearing with a mirror. He looks at himself in the mirror but instead of his reflection he sees the "Beast's" reflection. The boy is shocked and as he stares at his reflection, the camera zooms into the eye of the "Beast". It blackens and we see two Trapeze performers on their high platforms in a circus. A woman (her outfit resembles a lion) is in the spotlight, while the boy (his outfit resembles a zebra) is in the dark. The girl is smiling and waving while the boy looks at her in jealousy. They both have their trapeze bar in hand and both "fly" toward each other, the woman lets herself fall and the boy catches her by her leg. We see a close up of his hand holding the leg, and he lets it go. -it goes black- It cuts back to the boy standing in front of the mirror, he is shocked and swirls around. He is about to walk off but stops, he turns around and leaps into the mirror, on the other end of the mirror we see him leaping for his trapeze bar. He catches the girl again. It ends with a shot of his hand holding the girl's leg.
When I imagine the story as a short movie, I see the forest scene in very pale colours. Whereas the circus scene is full of colours, the girl's side in in warm colours (as she is in the spotlight) while the boy's colours are more blue (as he is in the shadow). The costumes are meant to represent their characters, as he is the Zebra he feels like he is the victim as she "stole" his spotlight. He sees her as a threat, hence her costume representing a lion.
He is running away from himself, the beast represents all the guilt, and consequences of his action.
The beast is full of objects that represent all the things that were in the background of his performance.
I am not too sure if the ending works or not, whether it should end with him keeping hold of her, showing that he chose to not drop her, or to leave it open for the audience to decide. I personally like the idea more of leaving it open.

CHARACTER DESIGNS/SKETCHES
I started designing the characters and the "Beast". My first attempt was making the beast look scary, I gave it an animal skull head which gave me the idea to make the Trapeze Costumes with skull animals. The more I tried out designing it, the more problems occurred, the audience would not be ale to see the character's expressions, so I decided to make the costumes more simple and only hint at the animal design behind it.
I tried making the boy's head oval, but decided it looks too innocent, so I tried out making it more square-like. I like the idea of it being more square, as the character looks less like "the good guy". I want his design to be questionable, and the girl's design more innocent but also a little questionable.

Character Design (25/02/2015)

ASSESSMENT 1

CHARACTER DESIGN

Today we received a master class from our 2D Tutor, Franz about Character Design. We learned about shape language, silhouette value and character history/personality.

I mainly worked on character designs for my Idea about a man who stops looking at his phone and notices the beauty surrounding him. I tried out the character profile silhouette, and it really helped because I got a better idea of how to make his face more interesting to look at. I also tried silhouette, which didn't help me as much, but still gave me a good idea of what I want him to look like (slim and clumsy looking). 

I did several concepts for him, but mainly kept his silhouette slim. I gave him bug eyes to make him look more innocent, as in the story he is oblivious to everything going on around him. I also tried turning him into a girl. I gave him an round shaped face at the start to make him look more vulnerable, but I think making it more oval like makes him look a little less vulnerable. Freckles would make him look more unique as a character and a little rebellious, I think. I also tried out making him a girl to see what I could come up with. 

Franz suggested that I should think of obstacles for the story, perhaps him trying to talk to the grey people but not getting through and has to figure out a way to get their attention somehow. Maybe he unplugs the electricity for the city. 

Oana also suggested showing him on his phone on his way to work, him on the computer at work, and back home on his Xbox. Then there is a power cut and he is forced to go outside and notices the beauty in the stars. As much as I like the idea of his day playing out, I think he should make a conscious decision to put his phone down. 

I felt I had become stuck with just one idea and wanted to explore other ideas as well:

OTHER STORY IDEAS:
6.) An old lady is walking through darkness, holding a small candle in her hand. As she deepens into the darkness, hands morph out of the black and try to put her light out. She shields the candle with her arm but as she reaches the end, a tall black figure appears in front of her and puts her candle light out.

I was watching many shorts from "Gobelins" and I noticed that the ones that stood out for me were the ones that had hidden messages, or obvious messages behind them. I know that this idea is very simple, maybe I can think of a way to make the candle into something else, or make it less obvious. The candle is meant to represent the old lady's life, and that she is struggling to overcome death. I like that the story is simple, there are obstacles, we know what she wants and we have a resolution at the end.

Brief and Lecture (24/02/2015)

ASSESSMENT 1

SHORT FILM PACK

We received our first assessment brief today and a master class about story telling. We learned that there are other ways of brainstorming and getting ideas. He also went through the structure a story should have (beginning, middle and end).
After the lecture I tried out writing down 10 nouns that are important to me, what some of them have in common and why they are important to me. I was able to associate a few of them, and come up with a couple of ideas. I found this method really interesting and made me think a lot. It made me realize things that I hadn't thought of before. (Idea 1)
I also tried mixing two genre movies together to get more ideas. I didn't find this method very helpful, because I found the movies I chose to be too different from one another. I then tried out normal brainstorming, writing down what short movies I like (Feast!) and why I liked them. I found that "feast" is simple, and easy to sympathize with. I tried thinking of more simple stories ( Idea 4 and 5).
I also did some character sketches, figuring out what kind of mood or atmosphere I like.
I found that most of the themes I'm interested in are: love, human condition, slice of life, I kept most of my ideas grounded so the audience can relate easier.
I asked many students in my class for feedback, and was able to get more inspiration for my story.
I am still thinking about what I can add to the stories or what direction I want the story to go into.

1.) A man is in the train to get to work. He is the only person in color while the rest are colorless. The train stops and he is the only one to go out. He gets to work and looks around and notices that everyone else is grey too. He looks at his own hand and sees he has been losing his color and has only little color left. Determined, he leaves the office and walks into the forest. As he looks around he sees life full in color which makes him regain his own color back.
This story idea is based upon my 10 nouns that I chose. When I was in Japan, it scared me how rough everyone treated each other. People were jammed into the trains (I could hardly move!) and everyone works almost everyday. I feel that the world has become superficial and people lose track of what is really important. The character felt like he was a robot (working everyday on repeat) in a city full of people and wanted to feel alive again by being surrounded by nature.
I'm not too sure if it is too simple as I think it might not be clear why he is losing color at the start, and I 'm not too sure if the ending works or not because I feel I can think of a better resolution.

2.) A man bumps into a woman while having his face down, looking at his phone. (Everyone is grey) He apologizes and looks up while the woman mumbles as she continues to look at her phone and walk away. He starts to look around and notice the beauty surrounding him, the city has color (New York), and there is life all around him. He looks down  and notices that he is in color too. He becomes happy but sad when he notices that everyone else is colorless and can't notice the beauty. He bumps into them on purpose to make them look up and notice the beauty too. 
Every time I go to a restaurant, or to the park, I notice that groups of friends are just on their phones and don't interact with each other. I think sometimes if you don't stop and look around, you miss out. The character realizes he as missed out and makes everyone else aware of their surroundings. Not too sure if the ending works or not because it is quite open. Not too sure if the setting works, either city or park. Not too sure if I want to add an environmental message (which is also important to me) since I already have a main message in the story.

3.) A lightning hits the ground and fire is born. The fire morphs into a boy. He looks down at his hands, astonished. He notices a rose and walks towards it. He touches the rose and it turns into flames. Shocked, the boy stumbles backwards and notices the grass catching fire underneath him. As he stumbles back he bumps into a tree. He quickly moves away from it, but it's too late. The tree is on fire. Suddenly a cloud builds up over the tree and rain falls, extinguishing the flames. The water morphs into a girl. The girls walks past the boy, towards the rose which is still in flames. She holds out her hand. The boy looks scared for the flower. But water drops from her hand and she puts out the flames. She gets up and walks towards the boy. The girl holds out her hand for him. He hesitates but touches her hand. His hand turns into ash and falls to the ground. The boy is shocked and looks down at his hands, having only one left. The girl points towards the ash on the ground, which has morphed into the shape of his hand. He can move it and he is so overwhelmed that he hugs her. She is surprised but hugs him back. The boy turns into ash. The girl sees the ash on the ground and looks down at her hands. Suddenly two hands grab hers, and as she looks up she sees that the fire boy, has morphed into ash boy.
I have had this idea since last year, and used it to practice story boarding. I like this story because it is in a way about new beginnings and how we change ourselves for people we care about. I like the idea of using the natural elements and combing them to create something new. I wanted to use metaphor so I chose fire to represent an aggressive character (who is scared of what he can do to others) and water to represent a healing/nurturing character, having them as elements also helps represent how change can be positive. The style for the story would probably be quite simple. (gravity falls, over the garden wall). I feel like the audience can relate even if they don't understand it right away.

4.) A student is at Life drawing and the girl he has a crush on sits opposite him. He keeps looking at her, and starts to draw her instead of the life model. The tutor instructs everyone to turn their drawing boards around to show the class their work. The boy blushes immediately but when he sees the girl turn her drawing around, he sees that she was drawing him the whole time. 
I know that for this one, you could make the boy and girl art students at a library, drawing each other and it would be the same story. But what I like about the life drawing class is that they both are more interested in each other rather than in anyone else, and that they are forced to show their boards to the whole class (including each other). I know life drawing isn't the most interesting setting, but I thought if you have the two characters make it interesting it could maybe work. I feel like it would be easy for the audience to relate to.

5.) A girl goes to class/work and as the day progresses her life's battery, health bar, hearts (like in a video game) runs low. She gets home and hugs her family/boyfriend and recharges. Throughout the day she could drop her sandwich (lose health), get a bad grade (lose health), gets a compliment (health increases), bumps her head (loses health) etc.
I like this idea because I think a lot of people can relate. We all have those days where everything goes wrong, and having a hug from a family member or friends just helps. I got this idea because every time when I go visit my family I feel like I get energy again, like filling up your car so it can run again. I am not too sure if the hug at the end works or if she should talk with them and recharge then. I also need to think more about what happens to her throughout the day, if she spills her coffee or what things make her health go low or high.

I think I learned a lot about forming ideas and coming up with stories in different ways. I liked helping others with their stories and finding out things I can improve on my ideas/stories. I think it was great how everyone helped each other and I liked the group activities the most. It was good to hear what others think and what stories they came up with. I found it challenging to come up with lots of different ideas in one day/limited amount of time. I also found it challenging to make the stories short, to say a lot in a limited amount of time. I want to improve on exploring completely different ideas to have a wider range.